"Most teams don't want an opener or a top-order batter" - Aakash Chopra predicts which team will pick Mayank Agarwal in IPL 2023 auction

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes erstwhile Punjab Kings captain Mayank Agarwal may not attract a huge bidding war like some of the other stars. This is because he feels most teams have a settled top order.

However, Chopra also claimed that defending champions Gujarat Titans might be keen to land Agarwal. Although Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha were a decent opening combination for the champions last year, they would love to have another quality Indian batter in their top order with Hardik Pandya in at No. 4.

In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Aakash Chopra had to say about Mayank Agarwal's future IPL destination:

"I have kept Mayank Agarwal in fifth place on this list. The only thing that could go against him is that most teams don't want an opener or a top-order batter. Gujarat Titans might be interested in him. They do have Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha, but if they get Agarwal to open with Gill, then wow."

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Sunrisers Hyderabad will be in contention to sign Mayank Agarwal: Aakash Chopra

A team that probably needs a top-order batter and a captain is Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They released their former skipper Kane Williamson and have the biggest purse (INR 42.25 cr) coming into the auction. This makes them firm favorites to sign Agarwal, if they're keen to secure his services.

On this, Chopra stated:

"Sunrisers once again will be in contention due to the massive purse that they have. I don't see any quality batters there apart from Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma and Aiden Markram.

"They already have the bowling so they need to stack up their batting. Unless there's a case where no bidding war happens, I expect Mayank to go for 8-10 crore in the auction."

SRH retained players: Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kartik Tyagi, T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Aiden Markram, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Glenn Phillips, Marco Jansen.